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By Karla Pomeroy
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City to participate in working group for ambulance service

 

November 12, 2020



WORLAND — The Worland City Council approved the appointment of council member Kreg Lombard to a working committee about the future of the Washakie County Ambulance Service (WCAS).

Lombard volunteered for the assignment, noting his work as a first responder/firefighter.

At the Oct. 29 Washakie County Commissioners meeting, Cody Regional Health representatives approached the county about taking over the ambulance service due to WCAS having trouble obtaining and retaining volunteers.

In the letter to the mayor and council, WCAS Director Luke Sypherd wrote, “The Washakie County Ambulance Service is a department of the Washakie County government and is the primary emergency medical services provider for the majority of Washakie County. Our agency provides support to the Ten Sleep Ambulance Service, which is the primary agency for the Ten Sleep area. Our staffing consists of one full-time [emergency medical services] director, one part-time claims manager, one volunteer EMS captain, four active volunteer emergency medical technicians of varying levels and one driver. Each of our administrative staff members are also EMTs of varying levels — paramedic, intermediate and advanced. With the exception of the director and claims manager, all crew members are employed outside of WCAS to earn a living.”

He wrote that WCAS responds to about 1,000 calls every year with 78.5% occurring within the city limits. Sypherd said in the letter that the call volume requires an average actual work time of over six hours per day that does not include drive time, washing clothes are possible contact with infectious disease patients, decrease in productivity when the volunteer leaves the task at hand to respond to call.

To become an EMT Basic requires more than 200 hours of course work, he said.

“To start volunteering with an agency, you must have your EMT license, complete a field training program, participate in regular training meetings and obtain dozens of hours of continuing education each year to recertify and renew your license,” Sypherd wrote.

He wrote that with that amount of time and work involved, it is “nearly impossible to find people willing to volunteer in EMS. With such severe staffing shortages [he noted the pandemic has not helped with volunteer recruitment], our EMS providers are becoming exhausted and burned out.”

He said there is an increasing number of multiple calls at the same time. Due to staff shortages they also have been unable to handle a lot of ground transport calls for Washakie Medical Center.

The working group, to which Lombard was appointed, includes Commissioner Terry Wolf, County Attorney John Worrall, Phillip Franklin of Cody Regional Health EMS, Keith Ungrund of Cody Regional Health.

According to Sypherd, the purpose of the group is to develop a contract with Cody Regional Health to provide emergency medical services in Washakie County. A recommendation is expected to be presented to the commissioners next month.

Sypherd’s letter was accompanied by letters of recommendation for partnering with Cody Regional Health, as well as commending the current WCAS for the hard work and dedication to the community. Dr. Jeffery Brandon Butte, the physician medical director for WCAS, wrote, “Despite many obstacles, we have been able to improve the level of service tremendously. He wrote that the WCAS responds to an average of three calls per day. “Although that may not seem like a lot, it far exceeds what the community should ask of its volunteers. After decades of dedication, the volunteer crew is frankly exhausted, with only a few very dedicated individuals carrying the bulk of the load.

“This partnership will transform prehospital care in our community by providing 24/7 access to paramedic-level care.”

Sandy Beck wrote that each volunteer signs up for one of two slots on a six-hour shift. There are 28 shifts per week for one person; 56 shifts per week for the two-person team, which translates to 2,912 two-man shifts per year.

She also wrote, “The pandemic has created more stress and hours than ever before. When we had three crew members out because of a possible exposure and quarantine, the rest of the crew of three or four had to take up the shifts.”

Beck also wrote about an incident recently when a two-person crew responded to a 911 call and in the middle of that call there was another 911 call. “Some of our crew members were out of town, some were at work and couldn’t responded. Finally, one of our drivers responded and a crew member working at the hospital was able to make the second call.”

EMT Jordan Striff wrote that partnering with Cody Regional would “guarantee a paramedic on every 911 call that will provide the highest quality care to our community.”

Paramedic Claire Striff wrote, “We need a full-time EMS” outlining may of the other issues mentioned in other letters. She added, “Cody has established themselves throughout the state as being able to provide quality, highly trained personnel who have state-of-the-art equipment and protocols to rural areas and work well with the established entities who were already there before them.”

EMT-intermediate Amber Tibbits wrote that partnering with Cody Regional would provide a ready pool of competent EMS personnel available 24/7; stable patient care for both 911 calls and interfacility transfers; confidently trained employees; incentive for local citizens to reside in Washakie County with ample means of employment.

THE PROPOSAL

CRH presented their proposal to the county commissioners on Oct. 29. The proposal would be for CRH to provide the services, replacing the volunteer system currently in place. Estimated cost is $175,000 per year.

Currently the county budgets $60,000 toward the ambulance service. The city does not currently contribute to the ambulance budget. According to Clerk/Treasurer Tracy Glanz during the budget process for the current fiscal year, funding for most non-profits were cut.

However, she said the city has provided some funding in the past and the WCAS has been invited to visit with the budget committee. In 2016-2017 the city provided $5,000; 2017-2018, $2,500; 2018-2019, $7,000; and in 2019-2020, $8,000.

 
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